On March 9, 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency, proclaiming the nation of Venezuela to be “an extraordinary threat to the national security” of America. This may seem like hyperbolic overstatement, which it definitely is in a strict military sense. The American military is still by far the largest in the world, and outspends every other country with Russia as a distant second. Venezuela harbors no expansionist ambitions, and unlike the U.S., has no history of destabilizing other sovereign countries via color revolutions or outright invasions. That said, it is entirely accurate to describe the continued existence of Venezuela’s left wing government as an “extraordinary threat”. Not to ordinary Americans like me of course, but to the calcified American Neocon leadership who are deathly afraid of losing power and prestige in an increasingly multi-polar world.

Initially, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s announcement of a thwarted coup on Februaly 12, 2015, was greeted with deafening silence by the Western mainstream media. Telesur was practically the only media outlet to provide extensive coverage, while Counterpunch provided some in-depth reporting as the coup attempt was in progress. The only other major news organization to acknowledge Maduro’s announcement at the time was RT, Russia’s state backed news channel. Unfortunately for the American puppet masters, no amount of official denial or evasion could obscure the evidence of failure: the stillborn coup in Caracas was the second obvious regime change flop in a row for this year, fresh after the failed coup in Macedonia just the month before.

Starting the year with a “coup de dud” in an obscure country like Macedonia may have seemed innocuous at first. Though the color revolution tactic has been remarkably successful in fomenting political destabilization, it’s simply unrealistic to expect 100% success every single time. Fortunately for the empire builders in Washington, the regime change failure was largely overlooked by most media outlets because of Macedonia’s obscure global profile.

However, the failure in Venezuela proved impossible to ignore. Maduro’s government moved quickly to arrest the conspirators while Telesur did its part to disseminate damning evidence and testimony to the public. In response, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki smirked her way through a press conference and dismissed Maduro’s accusation of attempted American subversion, stating that “as a matter of long standing policy, the United States does not support political transitions by non-constitutional means.”

Preposterous denials aside, it’s clear that resistance to the color revolution strategy has been getting stronger and more effective as time goes on. In the age of declassified information, alternative news sources, and Wikipedia, it’s much easier for target governments to be aware of destabilization attempts–especially when the methods being used are continuously recycled from previous color revolutions. The CIA’s greatest hits are distilled in this handy infographic form, which details the standard characteristics of America’s favorite covert method of warfare. Despite the documented failures in Hong Kong, Macedonia, and Venezuela, the aging dogs of war still prefer to use to the same old tricks to sow the seeds of death and destruction. While it’s too soon to dismiss the overall effectiveness of the color revolution method, its presence and implementation has become increasingly obvious, eliminating the element of surprise. All once-innovative tactics get old without exception, which inevitably paves the way for counter-evolutionary strategies that reinforce political stability by exposing, neutralizing, and discrediting subversive political opposition.

Venezuela’s Bolivarian government is a true threat to American hegemonic power because the realization of successful resistance can be profoundly destabilizing to the foundations of a decaying empire. Aspiration and the sense of possibility have always been dangerously contagious, which can lead to an agonizing death or an unlikely revitalization of the American body politic. But whatever path it may lead to, one thing is certain: it won’t be a graceful way down.